Pages

Friday, November 23, 2007

Surely you have heard the above dictum: "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". It's actually a quote by Charles Caleb Colton (1780 - 1832) Lacon, volume I, no. 183. The man had won a place in my heart for his other quote: "Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason; they made no such demand upon those who wrote them". But perhaps it is irrelevant to perfume advertising, so let's focus on the first one.

Now you might call me wicked and you might call me laborious in search (and I might be both), but don't you get an eerie resemblance between those two images? F by Ferragamo, by the way lauched in 2006 while Femme by Rochas was advertised thus some years ago. And one might argue that the hand on the nape is a classic pose anyway. After all, there are other examples of such images in advertising. But I propose to you that this duo is a bit eye-catching. The position of the hands, the choice of angle, even the dishevelled hair! Don't you think?

And then of course there are the instances in which there is some imagery that, although quite common and classic in positioning, angles, shades and all the paraphernalia of photography and art synthesis, inspires itself another copy.

Directly, I might add and not indirectly, which might be understandable and quite common. We have numerous times stressed the importance of influence here at the Shrine. However, yes, this artwork at the right hand is indeed an actual painting, meant to be hung at somebody's wall. And if you pay a minimal amount of attention you will notice that not only it reproduces the pose, shades and general feel but the people depicted are the spitting image of the models appearing on the Ralph Lauren advertisment of Romance (Lauren's romantic approach to scents for women and for men launched a few years ago).To me, this is a case of cart leading the horse instead of vice versa...

Many more exciting optical scentsibilities soon and please be tuned in for a review of a smashing sexy scent shortly!

Ads from imagesdesparfum and parfumsdepub. Artwork Insieme I by Escha courtesy of angelart.com

Elena Vosnaki is executive editor of Fragrantica.gr, the leader in fragrance information in Greek, as well as a senior editor for the top english-speaking Fragrantica.com webzine.

Vosnaki has been Fragrance Expert on About.com and the Perfume History Curator of the Be Open Foundation exhibitionThe Garden of Wonders, A Journey in Scents in Milan. Her writing has been twice shortlisted in the FIFI Editorial Excellence Awards and is extensively quoted by authors. She is an evaluating expert on Osmoz.com.

Perfume Shrine is an award winning blog of 1000s of fragrance reviews (modern, niche, classic, vintage), articles on perfume history and aroma materials, comparisons of scents, interviews with perfumers & the fragrance industry, perfume shopping as well as scented travel memoirs, fine cuisine, tips on building a fragrance wardrobe and musings about the pleasures of the senses.